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RP3020: Influencing change through a low carbon schools community program

Project leader name:

Dr Vanessa Rauland

Project status:

Current

Project period:

06/2014 to 07/2018

This project will examine various components of a new Low Carbon Schools Pilot Program being trialled in Perth, to determine their effectiveness in helping to reduce schools' operating carbon emissions, primarily from energy use. Considering the pivotal role schools play within our communities, it will also examine whether the participating schools (through their low carbon initiatives) can influence community awareness, knowledge and action on climate change and decarbonisation.

Using social network analysis, the project will analyse the amount and types of partnerships formed as well as the reach of knowledge around climate change and low carbon living with a variety of community stakeholders including local businesses, community groups, councils, parents and others connected to the school. Through interactive workshops, information sessions and regular meet-ups, the 15 participating schools will be assisted to develop and implement their own individual Low Carbon Action Plans.

This project builds on successful completion of the ‘Carbon Tools and Frameworks for Institutional Precincts’ scoping study which ran from June to October 2014. The scoping study reviewed existing carbon-related programs, initiatives and tools to determine how they differ, their benefits and limitations and their uptake. Importantly, this study provided a coordinated, strategic framework and map to understand how the programs related to each other and how/if they could be integrated to a broader framework.

For further information about how the pilot is helping schools inPerth lower their carbon emissions, visit the Simply Carbon website.

Fantastic to partner in research w/depth & breadth of research on #regenerative precincts being conducted w/support of @LandCorp at #WGV

Publications related to this project

• Many school buildings are old and inefficient• There is no national benchmark for energy/water efficiency of school buildings and little guidance available for schools to increase their operational performance• We are tracking how our community-led low carbon...

The following report presents the results of research conducted on how to best deliver low carbon, high performance schools in the Australian context. The research included a literature review, two workshops and a survey with teachers and other stakeholders affiliated with schools.